One of the most striking features of the Book of Acts is the way the early church turned adversity into opportunity. Reading a portion of the Book of Acts on each of the forty days of Lent is something the Northwestern Minnesota Synod is encouraging all of its members to do. When reading from the book daily certain themes begin to emerge in a way they do not when reading a portion in isolation from what comes before and after. The theme of turning adversity into opportunity is repeated from the beginning to end of Acts.
The first example is in chapter one, verses 12-26 (Day 2 - Feb. 23) where the apostles deal with the devastating betrayal of Jesus by one of their own group, namely Judas Iscariot. In electing a replacement so that they are back to the full compliment of twelve apostles they find not one but two fully qualified candidates: Joseph and Matthias (v.23). So they decide to “cast lots,” which is akin to throwing dice, to see which they would select. The lot fell to Matthias. When one apostle was lost they discovered that there were two ready to take his place. Although Joseph is not mentioned again, he must have gone on his way to carry out yet another ministry for Jesus. Matthias was enrolled as one of the twelve (verse 26).
The last example is in the last chapter of the book in the reading for the last day of Lent (Day 40 - April 7) where St. Paul is brought to Rome as a prisoner who had appealed to Caesar for a trial. While in this situation of being a prisoner waiting to see if he would be set free, executed, or imprisoned Paul went on “preaching the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ” to the guards, to the officials who questioned him, and to many people who came to him to see what this was all about (verse 31, the last verse of the book).
In between those two stories are many others of how the early church would take a catastrophic turn of events and use it to further the gospel. Another example is in chapter 8 (Day 13 – March 7) where a great persecution began after the stoning of St. Stephen, one of the first seven deacons of the church and the first Christian martyr. The members of this small young church were scattered in all directions as they took flight to save their lives. The result was that this tight knit band of believers was separated from one another in an era before cell phones, texting, and Skype. But “those who were scattered went about preaching the word” (verse 4). And so the message about Jesus spread further than it ever would have if they had not been subject to persecution. Adversity was turned into opportunity.
In the second century of the Christian era, when the church was growing despite sporadic persecution and frequent harassment and opposition, Tertullian wrote “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church” meaning that the more blood that was spilt by those who persecuted the church the more people who were covered by the blood of the Lamb, because they came to believe in Jesus Christ as Lord on account of the witness of those who were willing to die rather than renounce Christ. Every lost martyr resulted in many more conversions. To change metaphors, it was as if someone plucked a ripe dandelion. In the act of pulling it up, the seeds are scattered in every direction and many more dandelions grow.
When adversity comes to Christians today, it can be an opportunity to grow, or learn, or witness, or serve. If one can get past the worry and the complaining (“why me?”) there is often an opportunity lurking in the shadows of the problem. It takes a great deal of faith in the ultimate victory of God to see the opportunity in the adversity. There may be times when that opportunity is very well hidden, indeed, but it is usually there. That is what the story of the early Christians in Acts teaches.
It is not the job of the person who is suffering adversity to turn it into opportunity. To think that way would impose a heavy burden upon the person who is already suffering. The job of the person suffering adversity is simply to look around and see what opportunity God is placing in front of them. It is God who does this work. It is Christ who uses setbacks to move forward. It is the Holy Spirit that works in mysterious and hidden ways.
In Lent the church lifts high the cross of Christ. The cross is the ultimate symbol of adversity as the instrument for a cruel and shameful death. And yet the death of Christ turned the cross into a symbol of hope, forgiveness, and life. How amazing!